Far Side of the Moon
by AgoodWITCH
Summary: Edward Masen is a National Hero. He's a successful Gemini and Apollo astronaut and a loving husband and father. With the moon finally within his reach, Edward becomes the commander of Apollo 18, but a series of mishaps, malfunctions, and miscalculations leave Edward and his crew struggling to get home.


**Far Side of the Moon**

 **Story Summary: Edward Masen is a National Hero. He's a successful Gemini and Apollo astronaut and a loving husband and father. With the moon finally within his reach, Edward becomes the commander of Apollo 18, but a series of mishaps, malfunctions, and miscalculations leave Edward and his crew struggling to get home.**

 **Disclaimer:** **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

 **This was originally an Age of Edward entry about a fictitious Apollo mission, but it didn't get finished in time, and was way too long, so I worked on this from time to time, and have finally finished it. There are two periods of history that I love more than any others; those are the Civil War era (I promise to finish 'Till I Come Marching Home' eventually) and the 'Space Race.' The Apollo missions were always something I loved and** ** _Apollo_** **13 is one of my favorite movies. This is what happens when I bought** ** _From the Earth to the Moon._** **Hope you enjoy this little one.**

~FSotM~

Edward Masen Jr. was always ambitious. He was much like his father, Edward Masen Sr., in the fact that he didn't simply want things for himself, he made them happen. That drive had made Edward Sr. one of the best attorneys in Illinois, and when his son looked up at the sky and told his father he wanted to go up there, he simply told him to work for it.

Twelve years later, Edward Jr.'s determination had earned him high marks and with his father's political ties, an appointment to the Naval Academy. It was in the weeks leading up to the start of his freshman year that Edward Sr. had arranged a trip out to the Naval Air Station Pax River in Maryland through an old friend, that things changed.

Their illness had come on quickly, and there was little that could have been done to save them once the meningitis had taken its hold on them. By the time the doctors had contacted Edward Sr.'s office and his secretary had tracked down someone who could get her in contact with Edward, too much time had passed. Edward made it home in time to say good-bye to his mother, his father having succumbed to his maladies while he was traveling home.

In a decision far beyond his eighteen years, Edward buried his parents, kept on his parents' housekeeper to look after the house while he was in school, and wrapped up his family's affairs in time to move in at the Naval Academy on time.

His mechanical engineering degree and high scores got him into officer candidate school and from there into the aviation program. Edward continued to push himself until he was a Navy test pilot, eyeing what many in his position were candidates for. Edward was going to be a NASA astronaut.

While there were others that had been there longer, Edward had proven that he was one of the finest aviators they had, and was selected as part of the 1963 NASA Group, just four years after graduating from the Academy.

With the permanent move to Houston to be closer to the Manned Spacecraft Center, Edward sold his parents' home in Chicago and bought a small home, knowing that he would spend plenty of time away from it.

For the three years between his selection to be an astronaut and his first mission as the pilot of Gemini Twelve, Edward kept his nose to the grindstone and was rewarded for that work with the promise of a go at the moon on one of the Apollo missions, just like his best friend Jasper Whitlock had after his Gemini mission.

As he was in his final preparations for the Gemini Twelve launch, the newest crop of astronauts arrived and it was at this time that he met the man that would change his life, Emmett Swan.

The newest men selected by NASA endeavored to learn from the men who had paved the way for them to expand the program, those that they would be working beside in the coming years. So as the Gemini Twelve mission launched, the new brood planned a party to celebrate the end of the Gemini Program and the start of the Apollo Missions.

After performing his record-setting five and a half hour spacewalk, Edward returned to Earth ready to let off some steam.

Upon arriving in Houston, Edward and Carlisle Cullen, the Commander of Gemini Twelve, went to Manned Spacecraft Center to be debriefed before Esme Cullen picked up the pair to drive them to the party.

"So, what hotel ballroom did they find to host this party at?" Edward asked as he rolled his neck, desperate to work out any kinks.

"It isn't at a hotel. It seems that a few of these young bloods have won over Jasper because he offered them the use of his house as long as they did all the work," Esme explained and Carlisle barked out a laugh.

"I'm sure Alice loved it when she heard that."

Edward snorted, knowing full well that his best friend's wife was probably ready to castrate him. She was seven months pregnant, if Edward's math was right, and probably not in the mood for a bunch of yahoos to be in her house. "I feel sorry for the first one to break something."

"With all the skirts that are going to be there chasing you, I may have distract her so that Lizzie will be able to remember her godfather," Esme teased Edward as they continued the journey. Elizabeth Cullen was Carlisle and Esme's youngest, and they'd asked Edward and one of Esme's friends to be the godparents when she was born eighteen months ago. The fact that she had the same name as his mother solidified it for Esme as fate, even though they'd already asked him when they discovered the coincidence.

The remainder of the drive passed in quiet conversation before they pulled up to the house with the music playing and the long line of cars parked along the street.

"Christ, what did Rina bring her whole damn family?" Edward muttered as he noticed the familiar corvettes that belonged to the Denali sisters.

"Why should that bother you?" Carlisle asked. "Rina never gave you the time of day and Kat fell on Garrett's sword the minute she met him."

"Carlisle Joseph Cullen, someday some punk is gonna talk about your daughter that way?" Esme chastised him, but Edward jumped in.

"They better not, because my Lizzie isn't going to be chasing after peckers like these Loosies do." Edward smirked, but the sound of Tanny's voice made him cringe.

"Don't dip your stick in that can of oil, it might rust off," Carlisle muttered in passing as they approached the house.

"Eddie, I was wondering when you were going to get here," Tanny whined.

"I did just get off a mission, Tanny. Now, why don't you find one of these poor chumps that don't know all about how you chase after anyone in a flight suit."

Edward walked into the house and was immediately grabbed by Larry French. "For what it's worth, Rina didn't tell her sister, Kat let it slip when Garrett told her."

"I was a little harsh outside, but after the mission I just came off, I am not in the mood for Tanny Denali," Edward remarked as her sisters approached.

Both women gave Edward a hug and welcomed him home after his latest mission. The astronauts lived relatively close either in proximity, or in their social circles. There was a lot that most people wouldn't get, so to have a large group that understood what their comrades were going through, and to have the wives and kids to keep each other safe and sane when it was their man's turn to blast off was invaluable.

Edward was the last bachelor of the 1963 NASA group, and that seemed to be why he drew so much attention, but with the latest crop of flyboys coming to try and get themselves in space, it took a little of the pressure off of him.

"Edward, come over here and meet some of the guys," Garrett called from the kitchen, and Edward excused himself to get a drink and meet the men that his training had kept him from getting to know too well in the last few months.

Nineteen men were in this most recent group of astronauts, and seven of them were hanging around in the kitchen as he walked over.

"Edward," Garrett McCoy began his introductions, "this is Embry Call, Mike Newton, Emmett Swan, Jared Cameron, Seth Clearwater, Ben Cheney, and Austin Marks. Guys, this is Edward Masen, he's the man you all want to be."

"Shut up, McCoy," Edward teased. "It's nice to meet you all, now who can get me a beer?"

The guys joked around for a while drinking and carrying on until Edward caught sight of a pretty little thing in a teal and black chevron mini dress.

"Bella, there you are," Emmett Swan called to the girl Edward was eyeing. She walked over and he pulled the petite girl into his side. "Bella, this is Edward Masen. Edward, this is my kid sister, Bella Swan."

"Nice to meet you, Miss," Edward said as he looked into her warm brown eyes.

"Call me, Bella, Mr. Masen," Bella told him.

"It's Edward, and why don't I introduce you to some of the others, maybe help you figure out which of the wives are worth getting to know," Edward offered, and Bella took him up on it.

Keeping his promise, they talked to Rina and Kat, along with Esme and Alice, who seemed to have her husband glued to her hip that night. After a little while, they headed upstairs so they could talk in a little more privacy, but it seemed that neither of them was in much mood to talk.

"Isn't it scary going outside the ship? I don't know if I could handle the nerves," Bella said as they sat on the window seat at the end of the hallway on the second floor of the house.

"That's one of the things that make us who we are, Bella, we look fear in the eye and do it anyway. I spent three-hundred and thirty minutes out in the vacuum of space, and tonight I'm sitting here looking at you."

"I'm sure what you saw up there makes this pale in comparison," Bella murmured.

"No, seeing that makes you look that much more beautiful, and this little dress is practically begging me to…" Edward trailed off, his fingers grazing the fabric near the hem.

"There's no need to beg, Edward, I'm yours if you want me."

Edward took her up on the invitation, sweeping her into his arms and finding the nearest room. He was happy to discover a daybed close to the door and deposited Bella on it as he worked to pull his polo over his head and kick off his shoes at the same time. Bella drank in the sight of him stripping before her, his pants falling to the floor as he joined her on the bed.

"You're a little overdressed, Beauty," Edward whispered as he reached to find the fabric again and pull it over her head. She wasn't wearing much under that dress, and Edward was pleased to see it. They removed their remaining garments and Edward slid over her on the tiny bed, and thrust deep inside her.

Edward kissed her as he slowly began to move, working hard to make it good for her. He traced her body, working her over until she responded to him in time. She was tight and hot around him and he kept it up, knowing that he'd have to pull out soon, but wanting her to come before he did so. Edward could feel the start of her orgasm around him and his own building, but just as he was about to pull out, the door flew open, and the screaming started as soon as the light flicked on.

"Edward, what in the hell are you doing in here?" Alice screamed and Edward scrambled off the bed and went reaching for his clothing.

"Alice, calm down," Edward hollered back.

"I will not calm down when I hear noises upstairs and come up to find you bedding some tramp in my nursery," Alice barked.

"She isn't a tramp, she's…where'd she go?" Edward asked as he realized for the first time that she was gone.

"The little star chaser scurried out of here as soon as you got off her. I don't even know where you found her considering you just came out of quarantine this evening."

"She's Emmett Swan's younger sister," he confided.

"You better hope he doesn't break your legs when he finds out you took her innocence," Alice remarked and Edward's eyes fixed on her.

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"That kind of bleeding only happens the first time." Alice pointed to the ruined throw blanket on the bed. "You owe me a new one, by the by."

"That's what you're worried about right now?" Edward fumed, and then a much more pressing thought entered his mind. "Oh, God."

"What, Edward?" Alice asked.

"I didn't…I was going to, damn it, Alice, you distracted me with all your yelling and I didn't pull out before-" Edward hissed.

"You're blaming me for the fact that you may have just knocked up your new team member's sister?"

"Alice, you really need to stop jumping from topic to topic, now what are you talking about?"

"Emmett's going to be training with you, so you'll be seeing a lot of him."

"I need to find Bella, Alice, please help me."

"If I do this, you're on diaper duty for your godson until the end of time," Alice countered, but her help didn't do much good. When they returned to the main floor of the house Emmett and Bella were gone. Larry mentioned having to help get Emmett's blitzed ass to the car when she announced that they were heading out. Knowing that now wasn't the time to try and find her, Edward crashed at Jasper and Alice's house, resolving to talk to Emmett on Monday and get a hold of Bella from there.

Only Emmett came into work talking about how his sister had gotten him madder than anything by taking off back home earlier than planned. He didn't know why she ran off, but taking an early morning Greyhound bus back home made him think that there was something back in Tennessee that was calling her home.

Edward didn't know how to tell his new friend about all that had happened, and from what he could tell, Bella hadn't either.

And so he went on as if it had never happened, but on the inside he wondered if he would ever see her again, as she had captured something within him that he couldn't quite place. That was the spirit with which he continued on. Edward knew that he would be a part of Project Apollo, Eric Yorkie being the Director of Flight Crew Operations and one of the original Mercury Seven Astronauts, promised that he'd have at least one spot on a back-up crew as well as a prime crew command once those orders were sorted out.

For now he was content to do his prep work to be the CAPCOM officer on the first Apollo mission when it launched in February. Emmett and most of the single guys went home for Christmas, leaving Edward to split his holiday between Carlisle and Esme where he spent time with his god-daughter, and Jasper and Alice's where he pestered a very hormonal Alice about what he was sure was his soon-to-be-born godson. With only a few weeks until her due date, Edward teased Alice about giving him another child to spoil.

The New Year began and work kept his body busy, but his mind was stuck on the girl in Tennessee, especially when Emmett's mood was much worse upon his return. Edward tried to get him to open up, but the most he would say was there were troubles at home.

January moved fast, and soon Edward was over at Mission Control in Houston while they were running some last minute tests on the launch pad down in Florida. Edward was sitting in the Control Room, getting himself situated for when he took the chair in a few weeks when disaster hit.

Edward heard the commotion out in the hallway and followed those who had been in the room with him to see what was the matter.

"There's a fire on the pad," one of the techs said as he ran past.

Edward was hot on his heels, waiting for the next call from Cape Canaveral. It took over an hour to get the official word that Larry French, Riley Biers, and Paul Lahote had died in the fire. Calls started to be made, and Edward was asked to give the news to Rina.

He went to the house and she wasn't home so Edward had nothing to do but wait on the porch until she arrived with her three kids in tow. Rina knew what was happening the moment she saw Edward's hunched back and ushered her eldest daughter to bring her brothers inside.

Those next few days were a blur for Edward. Larry and Carlisle were like big brothers to him in the program so losing one of them was a crushing blow, and Riley and Paul had been in his group, even though Paul was going up for the first time.

Everything was mechanical for Edward in those early days, until the day of the funeral, when a tiny hand rested on his shoulder on the same front porch that he'd waited on to deliver the fateful news.

Edward pulled Bella into his chest, crushing her body against his as he wept. She was out of her depth in how to comfort him, but Emmett's sudden presence derailed their reunion.

"This sure doesn't look innocent," Emmett grumbled as he looked between them.

"Emmett, just give me a few minutes with Edward and then I'll explain everything," Bella pleaded but Emmett had already blown past her to push him against the wall with his forearm in Edward's throat.

"What is there to explain? You ran like a bat out of hell right after meeting him, and now you're pregnant and he's -"

"Pregnant?" Edward gurgled out and with a double take his eyes fixed on Bella.

"Wait a minute, you never told him, Bella?" Emmett fumed, dropping Edward to turn on his sister.

"I was made well aware of the kind of man he is from Tanny, and I would rather that night be a beautiful memory and an extraordinary gift than have it be ruined by reality."

"Really, you're listening to Tanny? What do you know about Edward, Bells? Because I've gotten to know him in the last two and a half months and whatever you think you know is bullshit," Emmett countered.

"Can someone include me in the conversation?" Edward asked from behind them. "Because I've spent the last ten weeks going crazy not asking Emmett any questions about you because I was afraid that I would tip my hand. But if we've got a baby on the way then there's only one thing to discuss."

"And what's that?"

"When you're going to agree to marry me." Edward smirked. Bella gasped, but her eyes held the answer he was waiting for.

It might have seemed rushed to people on the outside, but once the wives knew there was a wedding that needed to be planned, it was a short number of weeks before it was a reality. Rina in particular used it as a bit of therapy as they investigated her husband's death and she moved on with her life for the sake of her kids.

Edward Anthony Masen III was born in August of 1967, and Edward and Bella had used her pregnancy to get themselves better acquainted with each other. Although their courtship was non-existent, the love between them grew with each day.

Now that he had a family to take care of, Edward bought Bella and their son a bigger house and made sure that she spent plenty of time with the other wives. He wasn't so foolish to think that he'd be enough for her with how often he'd be in Florida training or on missions, so he allowed her the freedoms that would make her happy and did everything he could to be home as often as possible.

The next two years saw them go through their first mission as a couple as Edward was the Command Module Pilot on Apollo 10. The eight days he spent in space, including the hour of radio silence coming through the NASA squawk box in the Master Bedroom, a radio that most of the astronauts families had so they could listen to missions at home, was nerve-wracking for her. There was the comfort that she knew Carlisle was one of the men on the ground looking out for him, as he was now one of the Flight Directors after a vision problem required him to remove himself from flight status.

Vanessa and Margaret Masen were the twin girls to follow nine months behind their father's return from Apollo 10, and as Edward's friends took their turns going to the moon, he wondered if he'd ever make it back up there.

On the night of July 20th, everyone close to Commander Jasper Whitlock was present at his house as he and Peter North became the first men on the moon. It was what they had been working towards all these years, and an emotional experience for the men who witnessed it. Their work had changed the world.

The missions continued to progress, with the success of Apollo 12 and the near tragedy of Apollo 13. That event proved that even when the mission had to be scrapped, the men working in the two NASA facilities were the best in the world at what they did.

The crew of Apollo 14 had no use for their back-up crew, while Emmett found himself dealt a hard blow as exposure to chickenpox before his mission on Apollo 15 bumped him from the prime crew.

A rearranging of the crew assignments had Edward slated for what would likely be his final mission, the Commander of Apollo 18. The rest of his crew was James Hawk as the Command Module Pilot and Jared Cameron as his Lunar Module Pilot. He would have preferred Emmett to be on the prime crew, instead of being James' replacement, but he feared for his wife's sanity if her brother and husband were on the same mission, which was part of the reason Eric Yorkie put him on the back-up crew instead.

Apollo 16 launched just after Edward and his crew went into training, and they split their time between Houston and Kennedy Space Center. Most weekends, Edward was able to fly home to spend time with Bella and the kids, but as the mission grew closer, the time he spent away was longer and longer. Emmett and the other members of the back-up crew were still kept in the loop, but he had a little more freedom to keep his sister company as she worried.

Christmas gave Edward and Bella their final week together before his last five weeks of prep would keep him in Florida until his mission. The holiday was a quiet affair with Edward spoiling the kids and Bella rotten, buying them every toy they could want and on top of her normal gifts, he waited until the kids were asleep to give her a final gift.

"I know that you will say this is too much, but I wanted to give you a physical representation of our love. Because I know you have to love two different Edward Masens, the man and the astronaut."

Edward held out the box and Bella opened it to reveal a gold locket. As she opened the heart pendant, a pair of pictures looked up at her, one of Edward in a publicity photo from NASA, the other one taken in their backyard the previous summer.

"I love it, Edward, and I'll never take it off," she said through the tears she felt coming. "In fact, I plan on modeling it for you so that you can see just how well it stands out against my skin."

Edward grinned as he stalked towards his wife. "Now that would make this a very Merry Christmas."

Bella snickered and reached down to the hem of her sweater, pulling it over her head as Edward moved in kiss and lick at her exposed skin. The lavishing continued as her pants slipped down her legs and he pulled them off along with her heels. He continued to disrobe her on his way back up, leaving her completely exposed on the bed as he stood above her in his dress shirt and slacks.

"You better join me on this bed, Commander Masen, or I'll just have to go to sleep," she threatened him and it worked. Edward's clothes joined hers on the bedroom floor as he climbed on top of her.

"No sleeping tonight, Mrs. Masen, I have to practice a very important aspect of my mission with you," Edward joked, but Bella didn't get it.

"What part of the mission is that?" she asked.

"Planting my flag," he said before the laughter erupted, soon turning into a deep moan as he entered her. "God, this feeling never gets old, Baby. I'm going to remember this every night as I go to sleep, that way you're with me until I come home."

"I'm always with you, and you're with me, Edward. It's been that way since the first time we met," Bella told him as she thrust up to meet him.

Their bodies pushed and pulled, ebbed and flowed as they shared their love. The times they were able to spend like this were not as frequent as either would have liked with Edward's job and Bella's devotion to their children, but they were cherished, and would carry them through the next two months.

As Bella felt her impending orgasm grow, she pulled Edward to her and called out his name. Edward growled as he came inside his beloved wife, her own climax following his as she settled into his chest afterwards, their coupling leading to a peaceful night's sleep.

Using their last few days together, Edward booked Bella's hotel room for the launch, which she was bringing the kids to this time. The thought of his entire family being there for the start of his final mission made Edward infinitely happy, and as the New Year dawned and he had to return to Florida, it was with a new sense of purpose.

It only took only nine days for 1973 to show that it was going to be a challenge.

Edward was in the simulator with Jared, working on the lunar landing procedure when Eric's voice crackled into his ear. "Edward, I need a word."

"I'm a little busy landing on the surface of the moon, Eric," Edward joked, but it wasn't a joking matter.

"The moon may be out of your reach," Eric said, causing Edward to come flying out of the simulator.

"What are you talking about?" Edward yelled as he reached the floor.

"James has had several blood tests in the last week, and his iron level is way too high. He's being scrubbed," Eric explained.

"That doesn't answer why I would lose the moon," Edward pressed him and he watched Eric posture.

"We've got Emmett in the simulators in Houston; he's been out of the loop a little, so we need to know that he's ready for this mission. They're going to give me his results and we'll know tomorrow whether or not we need to postpone," Eric explained.

"Emmett will be ready, he's strong," Edward said aloud, more to himself than anyone else.

Edward was right about his brother-in-law, and the trio was doing a great deal of public appearances and media on top of their mission training.

Emmett made it to the end of January before he was faced with his own bad news. Edward was surprised to find his brother-in-law drinking that early in the day, but when he saw what he was holding in his hand, he immediately understood.

"Rosalie filed for divorce?" Edward was shocked by this news.

"She claimed that I've put my career above her and have abandoned her. It doesn't hurt that she's screwing some hot shot lawyer. She doesn't even want money; she just wants the ink to dry so that she can marry this Royce guy."

Edward shook his head at Emmett's fate. "Well, you've got your lawyer working on it, so soon you'll be rid of the bitch. You know that your sister will be thrilled." It was true, there wasn't any love lost between Bella Masen and her sister-in-law.

Those last two weeks were filled with last minute runs in the simulators, or practicing the lunar surface experiments, but five days before the launch, Emmett put his pen to his divorce papers and sent them back to Houston. By the time he returned home, the decree would be final and Rosalie would be planning her marriage to her lawyer.

Bella had been adamant in her discussions with Edward about coming out for the launch, especially since Edward and Emmett were going up, leaving her with Jared's wife Kim, who was bringing her three year old, Claire.

The two women would be there wrangling four children, but for Bella, it was part of her process. She would watch the launch from the Cape, go to Mission Control for the TV presentation of their lunar landing, and then would follow the rest from home until they splashed down safely in the South Pacific.

Edward promised to take her there on a second honeymoon someday, so she could see the place that saw him come home safely more than once.

The night before the launch was all nervous energy. For the crew, it was anticipation of the coming mission, for the families it was trepidation over how dangerous this mission was. But somehow, everyone managed to get some sleep.

The morning of the launch had the three astronauts meeting with Alistair, the Pad Leader, who walked them through the close out procedure as he had done during their other testing on the pad. The men were suited up and their equipment went through a final check. They were escorted to the spacecraft and strapped into the couches in the command module, the pad crew pressing their feet into the astronauts' shoulders to make sure they were as secure as possible, before they were cleared and the hatch was closed.

Meanwhile at the bleachers, the Masens and the Camerons were seated among the crowd, a few NASA officials nearby to be of assistance if they were needed. This was the part of the job that Bella knew. She'd been well groomed by Aro Volturi, the head of Public Relations for the astronauts and their families, and as the other onlookers would cast a glance in her direction she did nothing to betray the panic she was feeling. Bella knew blastoff was one of the most dangerous parts of a manned spaceflight, and her memory of Apollo 1 did little to quell her fears.

The chill of the spacecraft created a mist over the ice that had formed on the ship. A disembodied voice called out the progress of the launch and once she heard the tower come to life, she knew that her husband and brother were traveling with the pad crew up the elevator to the gantry that would carry them to the Midnight Sun.

Bella had shaken her head the first time Edward told her the names of their ships. The Command Module had been named Midnight Sun, because as they rounded the moon, they would see the sun rise on the darkness that we only know on earth in the dead of night. The Lunar Module was named Eclipse by Jared to keep with Edward's celestial theme.

Some more chatter came over the speakers before they announced that they were a 'go' for launch. The fact that a room full of people were all weighing in on the decision that it was safe for her husband and brother to launch should have been comforting, but Bella knew that if she was the one hooked up to the biomed sensors that her husband was, the flight surgeon would have grounded her. As it was, Grenady liked to tell her at every meeting that she was too pretty to smoke, which always ended with him choking on her next exhale.

The countdown began, and Kim leaned into Bella to discretely ask over the unbearable noise. "Why did they start it so soon?"

"The countdown is from the moment the sequence starts, it'll go until they blastoff," Bella called and looked back at the ship.

The engine was roaring and the ice was falling like shards of glass from a shattered plate glass window. If possible the noise grew and the flames erupted under the ship, waiting for the moment that they were clear to finally break free. When that moment came, the gantry swung away as all the levels of the Tower broke their hold allowing the rocket to do its job and carry the men into space.

The sound lessened and the announcement came as people followed the path of the Apollo 18 spacecraft until it went through the clouds. "Apollo 18 has cleared the Tower at 0932."

Bella started to gather the kids as Kim followed behind her numbly. "What do we say when they stop us on the way to the car?"

"Let me handle that, I'm sure they'll be more interested in my family's three-ring circus at the moment," she barked out a humorless laugh.

"Mrs. Masen, with your sister-in-law not here, should we take that as confirmation of the rumors that there is trouble in your brother, Emmett's marriage?"

"No, her lack of support for her husband long preceded their marital problems. But the fact that she's carrying on with a prominent lawyer, and the divorce papers were filed with the courts in Houston this morning by his attorney should be what you use to draw that conclusion. My brother never deceived Rosalie Hale about who he was, but she thought she could change him anyway. It took her longer than it should have to realize she was fighting an impossible battle. I'm just happy that it's over."

Bella pushed past the reporters and allowed the NASA handlers to escort them to their car. "I can't believe you laced into Rose like that," Kim whispered as they got the kids in the station wagon before climbing in themselves.

"All I did was speak the truth. The papers in Houston are running the story today, and she has made no secret of the fact that she married Emmett for the position and then didn't want him to fly any missions. It wasn't even out of concern for his safety. It was because she wanted him in town to take her out so they could be seen. She's an insult to us wives that have cried and lost sleep over our husbands. When he's on the far side of the moon, I can't sleep. They're spending three days on the moon this time, and I will be awake for all of it. It's part of the reason Esme makes herself available to watch the kids," Bella explained to Kim.

Bella drove her and Claire back to the hotel and they went their separate ways. Tomorrow they would be flying back to Houston to watch the rest of the mission play out from the comfort of their homes.

While Bella prepared for her trip back to Houston, Edward and the boys were just beginning their three day journey to the moon. The first part of the mission was old news to Edward; he had already gone through the lunar orbit procedure; although this time he would be in the Lunar Module or LEM instead of in the Command Module during the trip down to the moon. And this time it wasn't a test run. This time, they would land for real.

Back on earth, Bella fought through the endless hurry up and wait that was air travel with her kids, getting home just in time to put them to bed. The day had been stressful for her, and the one thing she wanted was to listen to her brother and husband talk about roll adjustments and different system checks as they made their way to the moon.

February Seventh and Eight were textbook in their precision as Bella kept close to the Squawk Box in their bedroom. Edward worried about her sitting there, listening to the missions alone, but he also knew that if she couldn't listen to them in her own bedroom, she would be over someone else's home or worse, in Carlisle or Eleazar's hair down at Mission Control. There weren't a better set of Flight Director's to have on a mission, but Bella's familiarity with the men would have her pestering them for news about things she didn't understand. It was bad enough that Garrett and Jasper were likely going to be called to the house if something particularly worrisome happened during their shift.

While most of the people at Mission Control were specialists or scientists, the CAPCOM position was usually filled by another astronaut, since they had a wealth of knowledge about the ship, and would be able to relay the information from the ground while offering insight and being someone the astronauts were comfortable with. Edward had done it a few times, and it was a nerve-wracking job especially his last time, as one of the CAPCOM's on Apollo 13.

February Ninth was the final leg of the trip to the moon, which included the beginning of their day-long orbit of the moon before landing on its surface.

The first loss of signal was always the worst for Bella, because she wasn't sure that they would come back, but with each consecutive acquisition of signal, she grew slightly more at ease.

Edward was using his time in orbit to photograph the moon from above and scout out their landing spot. It was tough, because you don't drop straight down onto your landing spot, instead the orbit has you pulling into it with a limited amount of fuel to get you there, but that was a worry that he kept to himself.

"Edward, what has you so quiet over there?" Jared asked.

"I was just thinking that the only thing that could make this more special was if Bella could see it for herself. The moon has been my mistress for a long time, and I finally get the chance to land and make all of those nights away from home, and weeks spent without being able to see her worth it."

"You don't have to give it up, Edward. There could be other missions in one of the new projects," Emmett encouraged, but Edward shook his head.

"Bella's raised the kids alone while I chased this moment, I can't go changing the rules on her when we're at the finish line. I'll be happy to get a consulting job and work close to home. This was what I wanted, and I made it."

Jasper's voice crackled into the COM system in Eclipse, "Carlisle wants to get a location on all of you so we can begin the procedures to get you on the moon."

Edward reached for the switch on his mic and answered for the crew. "Jared and I are in the LEM, and Emmett just headed up into the CM when you came over the COM."

"Okay, we have about ninety minutes until undocking, so start to get ready and then we'll go through the steps," Jasper responded before the radio went silent for a bit.

"I can't believe we're coming up on twenty hours in orbit, it hasn't seemed that long at all," Jared commented as he began to stow what had been taken out over the course of the mission so far. Edward and Emmett did the same before preparing to close the hatch.

"Don't get too bored up there, Emmett, we're going to need you to be paying attention when we come back from the moon," Edward teased his brother-in-law.

"Be careful, Edward, my sister would never forgive me if I came home without you," Emmett said solemnly. They both knew that the next few days were some of the trickiest of the mission and there was always a chance that they might never see each other again.

They each sealed the hatches on their side and Edward and Jared put on their suits. Once they were ready, Jasper was there to go over the system checks from the guys in Houston and then initiate the undocking and separation.

A few loud clicks and bangs sounded before the separation was complete, Emmett following behind the Lunar Module for a bit before returning to a higher orbit.

"All right, Eclipse, we read your position and everything looks good, you're about forty minutes from a lunar landing," Jasper radioed and Bella breathed a sigh of relief from her perch on her bed. Esme had taken the kids for the night, since Carlisle would be at work and Bella would be bundle of nerves during the landing, so she was alone in the house as the transmissions came in.

Checklists that never seemed to end were gone over before Edward was given the go for lunar landing. Bella clutched a pillow to her chest as she listened to Edward's voice.

"We've got a clear field below and fuel is good so far, Houston," Edward relayed to Mission Control.

"We show the same, everything seems right on the money," Jasper confirmed before Edward's voice came through again.

"Jared, what was that?"

"The thrusters, they're malfunctioning. I can't get them to stop," Jared responded as Edward muttered incoherently.

"See if you can get the other thrusters to fire, maybe that way we can counteract this," Edward instructed as his breathing grew heavy in the mic.

"Eclipse, can you give us your status?" Jasper said as static started to fill the silence.

"We have a set of thrusters malfunctioning and they're pushing us further west than we'd…the other thrusters aren't balancing…I'm not sure…" Edward's COM was cutting in an out and Bella knew what that meant. Their landing site was in the Sea of Storms, on the upper west corner of the near side of the moon. If they were losing communications then that meant they were drifting towards the dark side of the moon.

"Eclipse, this is Houston, do you copy? Eclipse this is Houston, are you there?"

Silence.

For the next several minutes the only sounds to fill the Masen house were the repeated calls from Jasper to Eclipse that went unanswered, and Bella's sobs. She moved further up the bed, curled up so that her head was right beside the nightstand, and even then she pulled the Squawk Box closer so she could hear when her husband radioed to say that he had landed safely and that the mission could continue as scheduled.

But it never came.

Near the end of the first hour of radio silence, Jasper began calling for Midnight Sun, knowing Emmett would soon be coming out from behind the far side of the moon. He would be the only one that could give them the answers they needed, but it would be hours before he could give them the news they needed to hear.

"Midnight Sun, this is Houston, do you read me?" Jasper said, the terse tone evident to someone who knew him as well as Bella did.

"Houston, this is Midnight Sun. How did Masen stick the landing?" Emmett asked, completely unaware of what had been going on.

"We don't know how the landing went, Emmett," Jasper explained. "Their thrusters threw them off and we lost signal before we could confirm that they were in control of the spacecraft."

"You lost signal because of the problems with the ship, or did they not leave orbit to attempt the landing?" Emmett asked.

"They were attempting the landing, so we are assuming that they just landed further west than we planned. We need you to get us some information about Eclipse on your next pass, so try to establish radio contact and see if you can get some pictures as well."

"Will do. Did they sound like they were in distress when you heard from them last?" Emmett asked.

"Edward sounded frustrated about the thrusters giving him problems, but he was still attempting the landing as far as we know, so it wasn't any type of Master Alarm," Jasper told him.

"Okay, if he's heated, then he's fine. I'm going to set up the cameras so I can get those images for you."

There wasn't much talking besides housekeeping procedures, but the sound of Emmett's voice soothed Bella because it meant that she knew at least that part of her family was well.

Just before eight-thirty, Emmett crossed to the far side of the moon and once again lost radio contact with Houston.

"Edward, Jared, are you there?" Emmett transmitted as he did his first set of measurements to gauge how far off course they'd landed.

It was Edward's voice that answered him. "Emmett? Thank God, what the hell is going on? We can't get a hold of Houston and these damn thrusters had to be manually shutdown because they were still firing after we landed. Damn near toppled our ship."

"You crossed to the far side of the moon, Masen, they've been trying to radio you for two hours," Emmett explained as he snapped pictures of the lunar module on the surface of the moon.

"Christ, Bella has to be losing her mind right now," Edward groaned, earning a look from Jared.

"You think she's at Mission Control?"

"No, unlike Kim, Bella sits at my Squawk Box from the time she arrives home from the launch until splashdown. She needs to hear that I'm okay, and something like this has likely turned her into a wreck."

"Okay, Edward, Houston will want to know your status, so give me all the information you can," Emmett said, knowing that he would have a lot to relay once he was back in communication with Earth.

"I was in the same low orbit I had been in after the separation, and then fired the engine to leave orbit and land on the surface of the moon. I was trying to steer the ship, but the thrusters were giving me a lot of problems. They were firing without us wanting them to and they were throwing us a lot further west than we wanted. We tried to counteract it with the other thrusters, but it wasn't enough. I was able to put Eclipse down, but the damn things were still firing. Finally we had to manually shut them down."

"Was the descent engine working properly?" Emmett asked.

"Yes, and I'm sure the ascent engine will as well, we may just have to do this without thrusters when we dock again," Edward told him.

"That'll be difficult, because it means I'm going to have to come in lower so I have room to regroup if we can't align the first time. We're only going to have about thirty-nine nautical miles between where you were orbiting before landing and my current orbit," Emmett calculated as he went to the scope that would allow him to try and map out their landing location now that he was directly over them.

Jared came over the COM this time as he asked his own question. "Emmett, can you tell how far off we are from our original landing site?"

"I'm going to have to see if you drifted further north on my next pass, but distance wise you're roughly 125 miles," Emmett answered, moving away from the scope as he had now doubled checked that measurement.

"Houston may have us scrap the whole thing now that we're that far off," Jared griped, but Edward was already scribbling on his flight plan.

"Emmett, tell them we can still collect samples from the new site and take the photos. The Lunar Rover and the experiments shouldn't be compromised either. The only question is if they want us to put the transmitter out or if we should scrap that because another spacecraft would need to fly out here to receive the data. We've landed and our equipment is good, there's no reason to abort the mission."

"I'll try, brother, but Carlisle may want you where he can see you. Don't forget that he's sat beside you on a mission once, he may not like that he will have to wait two hours for updates," Emmett pointed out but Edward didn't care.

"You convince them, Emmett, because I didn't land on the moon to sit around for a few hours and then go home," Edward told his best friend.

Emmett returned to his scheduled work as he drifted further around the moon, leaving Eclipse to wait out news on the status of their mission. When Midnight Sun crested over the far side of the moon, he first heard Houston's anxious calls.

"Midnight Sun, this is Houston, do you copy?" Jasper called.

"Houston, Midnight Sun here," Emmett's answer could finally be heard in Mission Control.

"What's the status of Eclipse?"

"They're off course, but they're all right. Their thruster pushed them 125 miles west, and I'm not sure if it was also pushed north, I will be charting that on my next pass, but the crew is ready to get out and continue the mission," Emmett relayed.

"I want them on their way back home, Jasper, you tell Emmett that they're returning as soon as possible," Carlisle demanded.

"Midnight Sun, Flight wants them to abort the EVA's, Carlisle's not a fan of them being out of COM reach for that long, especially when they're out there working with possibly compromised equipment."

"The only known malfunction was the thruster which they were able to manually shut off," Emmett explained.

"They don't have their thrusters anymore? How do they plan to control their attitude and pitch when they have to dock with you again?" Jasper asked, shocked.

"I'm going to come in to their pre-landing orbit so I have room to back up and realign if necessary, but I have full confidence in our ability to successfully dock these ships," Emmett told them resolutely.

Before either Carlisle or Jasper could respond, Eric entered and walked over to Carlisle's post. "Bella's on the phone again, she wants to speak with you, Carlisle. No one else is good enough for her at the moment."

"Her husband is incommunicado and fighting to stay that way for the next three days, Eric. Don't belittle how difficult this is for her," Carlisle replied as he took off his ear piece. "Tell them we'll run scenarios, but they better prepare to sleep for a while and then pack it in."

Carlisle waited until he heard Jasper pass the message along before he exited the control room and walked into the nearest office so he could answer Bella's phone call.

"Good evening, Bella," Carlisle greeted her, but she was in no mood for pleasantries.

"Carlisle, I need answers. All I keep getting is this diluted NASA bullshit, Aro sent Marcus over here to make sure I don't leak anything to the reporters until they are forced to tell them when the broadcast of their second EVA doesn't happen, and Edward could be dead right now for all we know." Her wavering voice at the end let Carlisle know just how upset Bella was. As if he needed another reason to get her husband home.

"Bella, Edward and Jared are fine, Emmett spoke with them and there wasn't anything the matter with them." Carlisle tried to soothe her, but it didn't work.

"And what if something happened as soon as Emmett wasn't in COM with them anymore? It would take him nearly two hours to see that something was wrong, another hour for Mission Control to learn about it from Emmett, and then an hour for him to reach them again to find out if they were just going to remain on the moon to die if they weren't already."

"Bella, please don't get yourself worked up like this. I'm trying to convince them to abort, but-"

"Edward wants the moon," Bella whispered. "I have to go, Carlisle, thank you for talking to me."

"Bella, wait," Carlisle begged. "I'm going to work something out so he's back home sooner than planned. Why don't you let Esme keep the kids for the next few days? You know they'll enjoy the time visiting with us and it'll give you the privacy to make it through these days without having to be brave for them."

"Thanks, Carlisle; I'll give Esme a call. I needed her to watch them when I went to the doctor tomorrow anyway."

"Are you okay?" Carlisle asked, concerned.

"Fine, Carlisle, just a check-up," Bella told him, which wasn't entirely a lie. She'd been feeling rundown lately, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was more than the stress of the launch weighing on her. "Bye, Carlisle."

"Night, Bella."

The change of shift at Mission Control took longer as the new team tried to grapple with the new wrinkle while the Grumman representatives worked with NASA scientists to try and figure out how to shorten the trip, but not cut out research that could prove useful. In the end, the team decided to cut the third scheduled extravehicular activity, or EVA, which was mainly focused on finishing any photographic documentation, removing the recordings from the camera equipment mounted onto the lunar module and completing the various experiments where the equipment was meant to transmit back to earth. The removal of the camera equipment was moved to the end of the second EVA and, with that in place, the astronauts would be on their way back to earth a full day earlier.

All the necessary approvals were given to this plan and having given Emmett leave to sleep for a few hours, they waited for him to wake before giving him the news to relay to the rest of his crew. That hadn't kept Edward from waking him up twice to ask for a status report, meaning his naps were about forty minutes apiece between communication with Houston and Eclipse in the nearly five hours since they confirmed that Eclipse had survived the landing and the crew was safe.

"Midnight Sun, this is Houston, do you copy?" Garrett radioed at the scheduled time for their next transmission.

Emmett wiped the sleep out of his eyes at the intrusion of Garrett's voice into his subconscious as he looked at his watch. "It's three a.m., Houston, so unless you have news on the EVA's to get Masen off my back, I'd like to get back to sleep."

"It's only been two orbits, Emmett, how much can he be bothering you," Garrett teased, but Emmett wasn't having it.

"Garrett, you know my brother-in-law, so that question should answer itself. Besides, I'm trying to follow the flight surgeon's order to sleep but when people keep yapping in my ear, it's a little difficult."

Realizing that Emmett wasn't in the mood for banter, Garrett got back to work. "We do have that information for you, Swan. Do you have a copy of your flight plan in reach?" he asked and Emmett turned to find where he had stashed it.

"I've got it right here, what's the story?" Emmett took copious notes before double checking what he'd written so he knew he had all the information right.

"That's it, just pass that along to Masen and Cameron and then you should be over their position at six a.m. when they begin the EVA, so we'll get pictures of them on the surface."

"I'll take every type of picture and video I can of them out there," Emmett joked and then went over his own readings before they lost signal again.

"Wakey, wakey, Eddie," Emmett boomed over the COM which earned him a curse from his brother-in-law.

"Damn it, Emmett," Edward grumbled before Emmett cut him off.

"Don't curse the messenger, because I have news about your lunar mission." Emmett waited a minute for them to fully wake up and respond. He passed on the changes to the mission and then wished them well as he was starting to get static when he talked to them. "All right, Eclipse, I'll see you again when we have touchdown on the lunar surface."

Emmett spent the next hour and a half between his last transmission to Eclipse and when he would see his crew members on the moon confirming that they had the changes figured out and preparing to document it from lunar orbit. As he made one more orbit of the moon, he saw Eclipse coming up and began rolling film so he could get some video of their EVA. Both men were navigating without issue, doing their own photographing.

Though it was a long EVA at nine hours, Emmett was able to both see and hear that everything was going well and the transmission of this news to earth was what everyone at Mission Control, as well as a bedroom in suburban Houston, had been hoping for.

Bella wept from her place on the floor beside the bed, having missed the knock at the door or the footsteps that instinctually knew that she would be in the master bedroom after using his set of keys to let himself in when she didn't answer.

"Bella?" Carlisle asked, seeing the shock register on her face as she turned to him.

"What is it? Is something wrong with the kids?" Bella's fear was transferred to her children, Edward's children, who she had cast off on Esme so she could wallow in her misery and anxiety.

"The kids are fine, and Edward completed his first EVA and is back in the LEM preparing for tomorrow. So everyone is okay, Bella, except you, I'm guessing." Carlisle sat on the bed and she pulled herself off the floor to join him.

"I should have expected it, seeing as it seems to be how we celebrate our hellos and goodbyes," Bella joked, but Carlisle wasn't following her humor.

"My doctor's appointment today was because I've been feeling poorly for a while," she explained.

"Did you tell Edward?" Carlisle asked, already knowing that she hadn't because wives were trained to withhold information that would risk their husband's flight status.

"And upset him in the last few weeks before his launch?" Bella paused before confiding in one of Edward's closest friends. "I'm pregnant, Carlisle."

"That's wonderful, Bella," he cheered, hugging her in congratulations.

"Only if you bring my husband home, otherwise he or she will be Edward's parting gift before leaving me for good," she said in a trembling voice.

"Bella, if you think Edward would do anything to jeopardize a safe return to you and those kids, you're wrong. Before we lost COM with them, Edward told Jared that you'd given up so much so he could live his dream and after this mission he was going to settle down and take another position. He's ready to pull himself from the rotation and do another job with NASA or something completely out of the space program so that he can be with you every day." Carlisle knew she needed to hear it, and wasn't sure if that conversation had been heard by her.

"Do you think NASA would offer him a position at Mission Control?" Bella asked, hopeful.

"A flight director position may be opening up, and if so, it's earmarked for him," Carlisle confided.

"He would love that," she admitted.

"And he'll have plenty of time to do the job," Carlisle promised. "Now, I'm sure you haven't eaten well with all this stress, so how about I bring you by to see the kids and have dinner with us and Esme or I will drive you home."

"Thank you, Carlisle," Bella said as she got up and followed him out of the house.

The reporters were starting to show up, since it had been announced that the TV coverage of the EVA had been cancelled and thoughts of Apollo 13 were still on peoples' minds. After driving past the men who would be camped outside of her house upon her return, Bella looked outside the window as they made the short trip to Carlisle and Esme's.

A meal and some quality time with her kids and friends was exactly what she needed, but the pull to be home where she could get news of her husband was stronger, so after a round of kisses and the promise of the kids coming home tomorrow night, Esme drove Bella home.

"Bella, I know this has to be hard on you, but Edward is strong, and tomorrow night he'll be back in orbit and able to radio. Just hold onto that," Esme told her, knowing she needed the encouragement.

"Thank you, Esme, for everything," Bella said.

"Any time, Dear," Esme said as they pulled up to the house.

Bella got out and walked directly past the reporters who were asking their questions.

"Mrs. Masen, why was your husband's televised EVA cancelled? Is there something wrong with the ship?" one reporter asked.

"Mrs. Masen, why were you with the Cullen's this evening? Did Carlisle have some news that NASA was keeping from you?" another yelled, making her turn.

"Carlisle and Esme are my friends, so I had dinner with them. And NASA isn't keeping things from me, so stop digging. This isn't the first time a planned televised NASA mission wasn't aired. Stop digging for things that aren't there and get off my property before I have you arrested for trespassing," Bella said before unlocking the door and slamming it in their faces.

"Eclipse, this is Midnight Sun, how are you holding up down there?" Emmett asked.

"All the prep work for tomorrow has been done; Jared's already asleep so now I'm just looking to get some shut eye too. Can you tell Houston that all is in hand for our little drive?"

"Will do, Ed," Emmett responded.

"Hey, Em?" Edward asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have they said anything about how the families are taking this?" Edward asked, knowing that Bella would be beside herself with worry.

"No news on Kim or Bella, sorry," Emmett told him.

"It's too much to hope for, what with everything they're dealing with," Edward mused.

"That may be so, but you know that Carlisle and Esme are helping her with the kids, so you know they're all right. Bella's tough, she's been doing this for a long time," Emmett reassured him.

"Yes, but there's never been a mishap on one of my missions," Edward muttered. "Catch you in a few hours, Em."

"Get some sleep, Edward."

It took another forty minutes for the Midnight Sun to make it to the near side of the moon, but Emmett was already checking in with Garrett for news on his sister.

"Houston, we have a request from the Eclipse," Emmett began.

"What was that, Midnight Sun?" Garrett asked.

"They want to know how their wives are doing; this is a stressful situation for them too."

"Kim's being handled by one of Aro's men since she's new to dealing with the press, so she's as in the loop as she can be, and Bella's busting our balls and threatening to arrest any reporter dumb enough to insinuate that something's happened to Edward," Garrett explained.

"That's good to hear," Emmett replied. He knew Edward would be happy to hear that she was acting feisty, because it meant she hadn't locked herself in the house.

After going over some more of the info about this late night EVA in the lunar rover, Emmett prepared for the radio silence that the moon would provide.

It took a few hours for Emmett to hear anything from Jared and Edward, and at the first opportunity, he let them know about their families.

"That's great, Emmett, thank you for passing that along. Sounds like Bella got over whatever bug she had," Jared said, catching Edward's attention.

"What are you talking about?" Edward turned to his fellow astronaut.

"Nothing, just that Kim had mentioned being worried about catching the cold Bella had and that they'd all be passing it back and forth between them and the kids with how close they were in the days leading up to the launch," Jared told his commander.

"Bella didn't say anything about being sick," Edward muttered.

"She probably didn't want you to worry about something that trivial. Because believe me, Edward, you would have been pacing like a lion in a cage not knowing what it was." Jared tried to soothe his friend, but when he realized it wasn't working, he radioed Emmett before they lost COM. "Swan, can you ask Carlisle when he comes in if Bella recovered from whatever she had prior to launch."

"He will just be getting in before the EVA, so tell him to focus on the job and we'll get him some news." Emmett sighed. It would take hours for him to get news because Carlisle wouldn't be able to say anything without not only going over it with people like Eric and the other flight director, not to mention getting Bella's permission to broadcast it for the room to hear.

Emmett broached the subject with Eleazar, knowing it was better for him to talk to Carlisle and get a decision while he was on the flip side, which caused an interesting situation on the ground.

"Worrying Masen is the last thing we want to do," Eric said as they waited for Carlisle to come in.

"Yes, but not telling him anything will make it worse. If she has the flu then he knows it's something manageable and he can focus on the job again. I say we ask Carlisle to make the call and go from there."

"Who am I calling?"Carlisle asked from behind the gathered men.

"Cameron let it slip that Bella was sick before the mission started and now Masen is shittin' kittens thinking she's down here dying and he left her to go to the moon," Eric summarized in the way only he could.

"So you want me to call Bella and find out if she's okay with us broadcasting her personal business otherwise her husband may lose focus on making it home? You aren't giving her much of a choice there," Carlisle seethed.

"Carlisle, we wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important, but if she's felling better than that's all we have to say," Eleazar said.

"Let me make the call, and find out when the exact time of the next COM window with Swan is," Carlisle ordered as he went into the office.

Carlisle picked up the office phone and dialed the familiar number. It was only two and a half rings before a sleepy voice spoke. "Hello?"

"Bella, it's Carlisle. Please don't panic, I have to ask you a question." Carlisle hoped to head off the terror, which he knew the late night call could elicit.

"What did you need, Carlisle?"

"Kim had mentioned to Jared that you weren't feeling well, and Jared said something to Edward and now he's worried about you. I need your permission to tell him you're okay over the COMs, and I need to know exactly what you want me to tell him."

"Tell him the truth, Carlisle. He should know I'm pregnant," she answered.

"You're sure?" Carlisle pushed.

"Emmett blurted it out the first time, and I told him the second, only seems fitting that it be broadcast from Mission Control this time," Bella joked. "Maybe if he knows he'll be extra careful, and that's what I need."

"I'll broadcast it if needed, but what if we tell him that you're fine and he can hear it for himself when he's back in COM. What better way to get him to be careful then the chance to talk to you from space?" Carlisle offered.

"I could talk to him? I know that isn't standard procedure." Bella was getting hopeful, that she could talk to Edward herself and know he's okay.

"Nothing about this is normal procedure, Bella, I'll get it approved."

"Goodnight, Carlisle." She yawned.

"Night."

Carlisle exited the office and came face to face with the men that had sent him in there. "Bella is fine, and she'll tell her husband herself when he's back in COM. If anything will keep him behaved up there, it's a chance to call collect from space."

Not waiting for approval, Carlisle took his spot at the Flight Director chair and told Jasper what the plan was. The information was passed on to Emmett, who told Edward.

"They're gonna let you, call home, Masen, so get back on this ship and you can talk to Bella yourself. But Carlisle assured everyone that she's fine, and he's seen it with his own eyes."

"Good to hear, Eclipse," Edward said. "We're going to catch some shut eye before our midnight drive, tell Houston to have Bella's headset ready for her."

Laughing, Emmett said goodnight to his brother-in-law and then waited for Houston to begin calling.

"Midnight Sun, this is Houston, do you copy?"

"Midnight Sun here, and Masen said you better get Bella's headset ready now, so he doesn't have to wait to hear from her once he's back aboard."

The humor in that comment appeased those who wanted Carlisle to tell Bella's news for her, because if Edward was mouthing off, he wasn't worried.

There wasn't much said beyond system checks for the hours leading up to the final EVA, but when it was show time, Emmett was once again manning the cameras.

The Lunar Rover was just pulling out when they came into view, and Emmett just had to chime in. "Mrs. Masen should have trained you for this part of the mission, Edward, because you drive like shit."

"Says the man that just got another free corvette because his last one decided to take a stroll through the woods," Edward teased back.

"You guys have gotten some pretty sweet gifts for being American heroes," Jared teased. This was his first time up, so he was only starting to see how things were once you were a certified astronaut. What you didn't earn in income from NASA, was made up for in swag given to the families so that companies could say they're products were astronaut approved.

The driving part of the EVA was completed in a few hours and then the two men worked to remove the cameras mounted to both that and the LEM so the footage could make it back home. They had no idea how it would look, with only the light from the spacecraft and the stars to illuminate it, unlike the sunlight they'd have to help on the near side.

They collected the last of the samples, concluded their experiments and began to pack it in. Swan gave updates, which Bella lived on, until it was time for the crew to re-board the Eclipse.

"Edward, come on, it's time to go," Cameron called.

"Give me a minute, because this is my last moment in the vacuum of space. I want to remember this when I think back to how much I've missed down there, because it will almost make this worth it."

Taking a deep breath, Edward re-entered Eclipse and they shut the hatch, with less than four hours before they began their ascent, they needed the power nap until Swan was back in their ear to go over the final checks.

Houston was happy to know that the EVA was a success and the astronauts were nearly off the lunar surface when Emmett lost COM with them, meaning they should be ready to ascend at one o'clock in Houston.

Emmett performed his own procedures, making sure to wish his crew members luck on his last pass. "Okay, enough playing down there, Masen and Cameron, time to come home."

"We hear you, Swan," Cameron answered.

With a final pass around the moon, Emmett dropped into his low orbit while still on the near side, allowing Mission Control to see him successfully get into position before they waited to hear if it had been a success.

Bella was huddled in the bedroom, knowing from her years of living with Edward and Emmett that thrusters were how they steered up there and Edward would be doing this without them. Emmett could correct, but only so much, seeing as he needed to keep them both in orbit where they were safe. The thought of them floating off from the dark side of the moon and never knowing was a crippling fear at the moment.

On the far side, Emmett was radioing Masen, who was perched at the controls and lighting the ascent engine. The ship broke from the base and began to enter the orbit, Swan trying his best to line the Midnight Sun up to Eclipse. There was some adjustment, having to back up to give them room to align, but when the clicking of the probe being captured was heard, all three were able to breathe again. Emmett brought them into the higher orbit, getting everything set as it should be before he opened the hatch.

"Damn, boys, is it good to see you," Emmett called as they came up into the Command Module.

"It's good to be back in this tin can, Emmett, now how about you get us home," Edward said.

"Aye aye, Commander," Emmett teased as they crested over the far side of the moon and Edward and Jared saw the earth for the first time in two days.

"Midnight Sun, this is Houston, do you copy?" Garrett asked.

"This is Midnight Sun, and I've got a couple of boys with me who were out way past curfew," Emmett broadcast.

The cheers in Mission Control were powerful enough, but for Bella who was standing with Jasper in her bedroom, the sobs were overwhelming.

"Come on, Darling, you know he's going to be asking about you for the next hour, so let's get you down there." Jasper led her out to the car, which had been parked in the garage to give her a fighting shot of getting into the vehicle unscathed.

The reporters hollered, but she ignored them as she was focused on her chance to talk to Edward. Once she heard Edward talk to her, she would be able to bring their kids home and begin to act human again. The not knowing for the last two days had been hell, but after that radio call that confirmed Edward was all right, she was ready to tell him that she was pregnant.

Meanwhile, the crew was busy transferring everything from the Eclipse to the Midnight Sun, getting the weight right and securing it into the stowage areas. A burst helium disc in the middle of the transfer led to a tense moment, but it was quickly ruled that it had no effect on the ship or the re-entry angle. With the Eclipse closed up and the moment of separation getting closer, the men said goodbye to their ship.

"Farewell, Eclipse, you sure made my last mission interesting," Edward said as Emmett jettisoned the craft.

Some final photos were taken of it as it tumbled towards the lunar surface just before Bella arrived at Mission Control.

Edward was annoyed that Bella wasn't there the moment they had acquisition of signal, but once Garrett explained that Jasper was the one going to pick her up so she got through the reporters and to Mission Control okay, he relented.

Carlisle chastised him for aging him another decade in the last forty-eight hours, and then waited for Bella's arrival, so he could take her home for dinner and then deliver her and the kids safely back to the Masen homestead.

The room leapt to their feet as Bella walked in and she knew that Garrett was the person she had to see, leaving Jasper in her wake so she could take the proffered headset.

"Hold the button to speak, and then release so he can answer, Bella," Garrett instructed before getting the astronauts attention.

"Masen, we've got a special girl on the line for you," he teased his friend.

"McCoy, if you don't have my wife on the COM next, I'll nail you with a moon rock," Edward growled.

"That better not be one of my moon rocks, you're wasting on him," Bella said.

"Bella? Thank God, how are you? Jared said that Kim was talking about catching some bug from you? Are you feeling better?"

"I'd be doing a lot better if you weren't off on the far side for days on end. The morning sickness is bad enough without the stress on top of it." She waited to see if he caught what she'd said.

"Morning sickness?" he asked.

"Don't act so surprised, considering the last two were mission related pregnancies."

"Yes, now I'm three for three," Edward cheered.

"Calm down, Masen, you have a lot left to do before you get to celebrate. I want you home safe on the twentieth. You still have three days in space, three days in quarantine on the carrier and then a day and a half of travel before you can relax," she chastised him.

"Afirm, Ma'am. You're really doing all right?"

"I am, Edward. Esme's been watching the kids the last few days, but I'm picking them up tonight and we'll be watching for your splashdown."

"You do that, and I'll be on your porch on the twentieth, ready for food cravings and three am feedings," Edward promised. "Try not to use Grenady as an ashtray in the next week; I know he uses every opportunity to tell you to quit smoking."

"I'll try, but only if he behaves." She shot a look at the man in question, taking a cigarette out of her purse.

"Okay, Bella, I'm going to let you go, but you be good until I get home."

"That's my line, Masen. No more extravehicular activities, you hear. Stay where they can see you."

"Yes, Ma'am," Edward answered.

Bella handed over the headset and stood, knowing that now she could face the days to come knowing that Edward was well. Carlisle got her back to his house for dinner with their families, and then they loaded up her three kids and headed back home. Once they were ready for bed, she brought them into the master bedroom and switched the Squawk Box back on.

"I'm only going to let you do this tonight, but since your daddy is back on the ship with Uncle Emmett, I'll let you listen to them until you fall asleep."

"Daddy's okay?" Little Edward asked.

"Yes, he is. Mommy even got to go and talk to him today, which is something they don't let happen very often. He'll be home next week, but first he has to fly home and then stay on the boat until they know he didn't get sick on the moon. But they're taking good care of the crew and he'll be home to us soon."

The four of them cuddled up, listening to the scientific drone of the various terms that were used that none of them understood until they fell asleep.

The next day, Little Edward was restless, wanting to be in school with his friends, but he was excused from kindergarten since the reporters were hounding the school for a hope of an update on the Masen family.

Now that Bella was over the worst of it, she called Alice to help her plan a get-together to watch the splashdown. It was important for her to be surrounded by the other wives and families when the end of the mission came.

Those arrangements filled the afternoon, and much of the next day, until the final day of the mission dawned on them all.

The final day of any mission was hectic, but the three men took the time to relish the view and remember their remarkable journey to space, none of them knowing at the time what was to come.

The world watched as the Command Module made its final radio transmission before re-entry, and though it was late at night in Houston, the wives and families sat around Bella's living room to watch the afternoon sun shine in the South Pacific.

The three minutes of radio silence were agonizing after what she'd gone through, but with Rina beside her, having come out from Dallas to support Bella as Edward had done for her after Larry died, the pair cried when Edward's voice came over the TV.

"Houston, this is Midnight Sun, it's good to be home."

Cheering erupted at every corner of Mission Control and down on the Cape, but the commotion at the Masen House rivaled them both.

Seeing the helicopter land and her husband and brother step off, Bella was overwhelmed by the sense of relief she felt after everything she'd been dealing with.

"Larry got them home," Rina whispered. "He would never let anything happen to Edward on his watch."

Hearing those words, it made her miss the friend who had moved away when being around so many of her husband's colleagues everyday had been too rough.

"We need to come up to Dallas more often, I miss you, Rina."

"Me too, we've stayed away too long," she admitted.

Bella and Edward made it through the last days of their separation and were rewarded with a welcome home that they'd never forget.

True to his word, Edward took the Flight Director position vacated by Eleazar, and settled into a life after his missions to the moon.

Laurence Emmett Masen was born September 10, 1973, named after Edward's friend, and a man that Bella truly did believe had a hand in seeing him home safely.

Apollo 18 would be the last of the Apollo missions, making the way for Skylab and the Space Shuttle in the years to come, but Edward was happy to watch his friends take their turns, as he'd reached the Promised Land and returned safely home to his family.


End file.
